Who are the best drivers of the last 10-15 years?

Question

Here is my top 5:

1) Damon Hill (very underrated. He still remains the last Brit to win the WC in 96).

2) Alonso - Don't like the guy after the Mclaren fiasco lat year. But awesome driver, and in a way I think Mclaren have lost out by failing to manage the relationship. His technical knowledge of the car gave them an advantage, which is something they are now missing in Lewis&Heikki.

3) Hakkinen - Awesome driver, like most Finns. Double World Champion - nuff said.

4) Mansell - a real racing driver. The match of Senna, and the only driver that refused to be intimidated by Senna's bullying and aggressive driving tactics.

5) Grudgingly I'll acknowledge in last place - Schumacher. Arrogant, overrated, often buckled under pressure, and master of illegal driving; e.g. vs. Damon Hill last race of the 94 season to prevent him from winning, or driving into the barriers to block the track in qualifying to protect his time. (Monaco 2006). But I guess he could also race a bit.

Answer 1

schumacher, hakkinnen, alonso. in that order.

Answer 2

Michael Schumacher is a legend and Lewis Hamilton is awesome! He definitely deserves a place in your top 5, he's in mine already!

Answer 3

1) Michael Schumacher: Without a doubt the best ever in the last 15 years. He started out with Benetton and won 2 Driver Championship before the Ferrari Era. One of the Best ever

2) Mika Hakkinen: The Original Iceman who scored half his races in the points and he didn't say much, letting his racing do all the talking

3) Fernando Alonso; The Youngest Ever WC, Stopped the Ferrari and Shumacher dominance

4) Jacques Villeneuve: I thought he was better than Damon  but did have an attitude problem.

5) Damon Hill: I thought Damon wasn't as good as his teammate. I think he is a tad overrated but his drive with Arrows in 1997 was good But this annoyed me about him

"Hill was partnered with Brazilian Pedro Diniz, whose sponsorship money helped pay the World Champion's wages. "

6) Kimi Raikkonen: Other People have explained it

7) David Coulthard: I Loved watching him in the McLaren team with Hakkinen. Good times

8) Juan Pablo Montoya: Nothing Much except I loved his aggresive tactics

9) Mark Webber: If Only this guy had luck and a Good Car, he has so much talent

10) Ralf Schumacher: Okay so his Drive with Toyota was not good but he drove good with Jordan and Williams and challenged his brother but was outraced by Montoya

Special mentions to: Barrichello and Fisichella

I didn't Put Senna because accordng to the 15 years You didn't see the best of him as well as Prost. Mansell stopped before 1993

Answer 4

I Agree With Your Top Five Apart From Alonso  I Would Say Senna And I Would Put Mansell First Because He Is The Only Driver To Win The F1 World Championship And  Indycar Championship He Is Clearly The Best

Answer 5

really good question you have asked there, there's so many great drivers throughout f1's history.

I liked juan pablo montoya when he didn't move to nascar!!

yea, used to be a big fan of damon and some of his driving was pretty skillful indeed.

senna was a great driver, would be interesting to see what he would be doing now if he didn't experience his accident.

schumacher is an obvious choice and a bit of a cheater sometimes, but it was amazing to see him when he started off his career in renault benneton, many years back. Think he now testdrives for ferrari, thats the second best job in the world, the best job in the world is being payed for doing nothing lol.

really good question by the way

niall a.

Answer 6

Nice analysis. I don't however agree with the Schumacher comments. A very talented driver who has been dubbed arrogant by the UK press (and we all know what they are like).

I don't agree about Mansell either. I feel he is TOTALLY overrated.

I do DEFINITELY agree with your comments about Alonso. He let himself down VERY badly and behaved in a VERY unprofessional manner. Martin Brundle hit the nail on the head for me when he said "I would go & try to talk to Alonso on the grid but that would be hypocritical as I have said some very nasty things about him over the last few weeks" This was just after the "McClaren Issue".

Another complaint I have is the VERY biased coverage of Hamilton by James Allen of ITV Sport. Hero worship or what??? He is a very talented driver but it is just a w@nkfest. I understand ITV want to encourage new viewers for their commercial contracts with advertisers but it is customary to comment on the actual race not an exaggerated view of what one WANTS to believe.

xxVP

Answer 7

1. 1993 being 15 yrs ago, Alain Prost, quit again after wiping the floor for most of the 93 season..

2. Senna, would of loved to see him battle with Schumacer

3. Schumacer, arrogant, big headed but dragged 2 middle of the road teams up to the top, did get annoying in 2002& 04 but no ones car was close.

4. Hakkinen, on his day superb but threw away countless wins .

5. Alonso, drove very well in Minardi and at his 1st stint at Renault, pure class.

. Didn't count Mansell as going by your 15 year guide he was past it, not taking away that in the late 80s and up to 1992 he was great.

Answer 8

First of all why Mansell?

I was a crazy Mansell fan but you said 10-15 years.

He peaked earlier than that.

Damon Hill underrated?

Villeneve was faster, Coulthard was faster, Frentzen was faster, all in the same car.

Top 5?

No way.

Frentzen was a much better driver anyway, just didn't get along with Wiliams and Head.

So, top 3:

Schumacher, Hakkinen, Alonso in that order.

There are many queuing up to fill the last two spots so I won't bother.

Schumacher overrated?

He holds the record for most race wins and most chamionship wins, if you called Gilles Villeneve overrated you could have a point, he never won anything but for a few races, he was blindingly fast, determined and exciting but very short lived.

How about Stefan Belloff then?

If Damon Hill fits into the top five then there's hope for Sutil.

He's not there yet but if all he has to do is match Hill' performance and guile he has a chance.

Answer 9

1) ayrton senna - the obvious choice. who knows what could have been. i think he was still coming into his prime when he crashed. better than schumi by miles.

2) mika hakkinen - pure untamed talent and is widely regarded to have executed the best overtake in F1 history at spa over schumacher.

3) Damon hill - true home-grown British excellence wrapped up in a well tempered nice guy. took Williams to new heights in  the 90s and bless him for it.

4) Lewis Hamilton - just started, a rising star but has got some serious game. could go on to be a multiple champion, let's hope so!

5) kimi raikkonen - fantastic driver, if a little quiet. made us remember how good Ferrari were after being dominated by Renault for 2 years.

Answer 10

M Schumacher - he great at analysing the car.

Alonso - even if all he talks about is his PlayStation.

Raikkonen - he's good enough to get a seat in F1 after only 23 car races. Holds record for most wins in a season without WC.

Hakkinen - Schumachers only real competitor.

Pizzonia - Broke the speed record, one of my favourites for this exact reason.

Answer 11

I was never a big Schumacher fan when he was racing but you have to admire that last race in Brazil when despite huge problems he blasted through the field twice to finish 4th.  Yes, he pulled a number of stupid/unethical stunts but a "best driver"?  Undoubtedly - - look at Ferrari falling apart without 100% of his time now.  And off track a very decent human being with quiet charitable contributions etc.

And Alonso too; also unethical, IMHO.  But also one of the "best drivers".  

Senna just qualifies for your 15 years ago limit since he was killed 14 years ago.  He's clearly one of the best drivers but not the God that his fans want to believe.  Also had his unethical moments.  This is becoming a pattern . . .

I don't think there is anyone else that really is at this level - - Hamilton seems likely to get there but not Kimi, Massa, Montoya, Mansell (tough guy though, racing with a broken back etc).

Answer 12

ohhh baby

Alonsooo, of course!

Answer 13

Nobody can say who is the best driver over such a time frame with any certainty, it's largely down to opinion.

However, if we're going back as far as Mansell, then I'd probably rate Senna as the best driver.

1.  Ayrton Senna:  He is one of the very few drivers who demonstrated the ability to drag a truly awful car to the front of the grid.  At the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, he nearly won it driving a Toleman of all things, for those of you new to F1 that's like someone winning a race driving a Force India.  He would have won had the race not been red flagged due to the torrential rain, Senna was a true rain master.  Just watch the clip below of the first lap at Donington in 1993 for the proof, he went from 5th on the grid to be leading on the first lap!

2.  Nigel Mansell:  Mansell was possibly the unluckiest driver in F1 in history, having retired from around 40% of the races he started in due to mechanical problems or accidents (some of these of his own making).  He only won 1 championship but it could easily have been three had it not been a tyre exploding in the final race of the season in 1986 and then an injury forcing him to miss races in 1987.

Mansell was a fantastic battler and enjoyed some of the greatest overtaking moves I've ever seen, watch the second link below to see him overtake Senna for the lead of the Hungarian GP which he won after starting 12th on a track where you allegedly cannot overtake!

3.  Michael Schumacher:  I'm not a fan of Michael due to his highly dubious tactics, but he is a great driver and deserves to be in anyones top 5 of the recent seasons in F1.  I don't rate him as highly as either Mansell or Senna as early in his career when he was racing these two drivers he was beaten by them more often than not, but you could argue that was down to his inexperience and possibly on occasion a slower car.

However, Schumacher was prone to making errors at critical moments which is one reason I've put him in third.  For example he stalled on the grid at Suzuka that cost him the title in 1998 and he crashed out on the first lap in the wet at Monaco in 2000, to name but two such incidents.

4.  Fernando Alonso:  It's quite early days yet to be talking about Alonso as a great driver, but he did beat Schumacher to two world titles in 2005 and 2006 in roughly equal equipment, so he deserves to be here I think.

5.  Mika Hakkinen:  Another driver who beat Schumacher to two titles in roughly equal (although probably more reliable) machinery.

Other drivers who I would consider to be up there with the greats would be Damon Hill, who on occasion was able to beat Schumacher in equal machinery but not quite often enough to be great.  His second place and near win in the Arrows at Hungary in 1997 was stunning and easily the best performance of anyone in an uncompetitive car in the dry over the past decade or so.

I've not included Alain Prost in this list as for me he just lacked the passion to be included as a great driver, more often than not he would sit back and wait for other drivers to drop out rather than fight for position.  He was a great strategist but that's not what I like to see in my drivers and this is my opinion after all!

Kimi Raikonnen has the potential to be great (once he sorts out his motivation) but it's too early to be talking about him yet I think, let's see him win some more first.

Finally I'd mention Juan Pablo Montoya, he certainly was a fiery driver who made some stunning overtaking moves on Schumacher and the rest.  Had he had a more reliable car in the Williams he could well have been a champion too.

BTW, Hamilton is way too inexperienced to be considered here, he needs at least two more full seasons.

Answer 14

hi

michael schumacher is the best ever driver...

he has 7 world championships

records for most pole positions and podium finishes

he also has his own underground garage and petrol station under his House on  a PRIVATE BEACH!- nothing to do with driving but still ...its cool!

he has books written about him called- "the greatest of all"

he has starred as a ferrari f430 in the "cars" animation

he has donated over 50mil to charity

...and has won Laureus sportmans of the year x2

hope this helps